Trans-national Migration

1. Trans-national Migration International College KhonKaen University 2012 Week 2 – History of Trans-national Migration

2. Who is a Migrant? • The most commonly accepted definition of a migrant is: “a person who leaves his normal place of residence for another region or country, and plans to stay there for at least one year”

3. Who is a Migrant? • The migrant may be forced to leave his normal place of residence, or he may choose to leave • The migrant may travel alone, with his family or as part of a very large group • No matter why or how they travel they are still migrants if they do not expect to return to live in their normal place of residence for at least one year

4. Who is a Migrant? • In this course we focus on migrants who cross borders between countries • We will look at the many different categories of migrants next week (Week 3) • It follows from our definition that the following are not migrants: • Tourists • Commuters • Seasonal workers • (Students fully intending to return home to work after completing their courses or degrees)

5. A Brief History • Migration has been a constant feature of world history • All human races on earth originated in Africa • Homo erectus (standing man) started moving out of the Rift Valley in Central Africa about a million years ago • Homo sapiens (thinking man) also first evolved in Africa and started moving north and east about 100,000 years ago

6. The Earliest Migrations

7. A Brief History • By 40,000BC there were humans living in most of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia • Later, early migrants headed north to cooler climates in Europe, Central Asia and North Asia • Between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago humans spread throughout the Americas • Only 2,000 - 3,000 years ago humans arrived in the islands of the Pacific • Main reasons for these early migrations: • Climate change • Food supply

8. A Brief History • In Europe, the Greek Empire (7th century BC to 150 BC) and the later Roman Empire (150 BC to 400 AD) depended on migration to maintain their control • Outside Europe, other major early migrations enabled the establishment of empires in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America: • Mesopotamia, Persia • Inca, Aztec • Indus, Mongol • Zhou, Qin and Tang dynasties

9. A Brief History – 14thCentury • The large empires of rulers in both Central Europe and Central Asia allowed trade to flourish • People, goods and ideas could flow more freely than ever before between China in the east and Europe in the west • Traders were more welcome because they brought goods that were different, often better • Religion was also becoming important - to spread the faith

10. A Brief History – 16th Century • The Age of Exploration and European Colonialism led to higher levels of migration from the 16th Century • The reasons for moving on were mainly: • Trade - acquiring wealth and resources • Population pressure in Europe • Religious freedom in Europe • Migrant mobility and trade was now easier because of new technologies, especially improved navigation and boat design

11. A Brief History – 16th Century • Ming China was already the world’s most populous state and probably the wealthiest • China was the world’s leading importer of silver for more than 200 years • Portugal, Spain and India were the other major countries setting up trading communities in distant countries • Colonialism started from these trading posts in places like Canton, Hoi An, Jakarta, Goa and the West Indies

13. A Brief History – 17th Century • Silver, gold, coffee, sugar, spices, silk, tobacco, herbs and gems drove trade (and greed) throughout the 17th century • Slowly, more bulky products like cotton, wool, meat and timber also became important • But growing food and agricultural crops required farming expertise, and labour • Europeans colonized foreign countries to grow crops, manage mines and arrange shipment – and to import slaves

14. A Brief History – 18th Century • By the 18th century Europeans had established colonies in every continent: • Sometimes conquering and killing thousands of local inhabitants • In other places working alongside locals • The main European colonizers: • Spain • England • France • Netherlands • Portugal

15. A Brief History – 18 and 19th Centuries • Most of this European settlement was voluntary, but some groups were forced to move: • Peasants • Soldiers • Convicts • Orphans • European traders also transported around 12 million Africans as slaves to work plantations and mines in the Americas • Smaller numbers of Chinese, Indians and Japanese were also shipped to work in European colonies

16. A Brief History – 19th Century • The rise of the United States as an industrial power attracted more than 14 million people from stagnant economies (and famines in Ireland) between the 1850’s and 1930’s • Most were “economic migrants” looking for a better life, their own land, or to practice their own religion • Most were from Europe, but Chinese and Latin Americans were also moving in • Technology helped speed migration – arrival of steamboats made travel safer and quicker

17. A Brief History – South-east Asia • South-east Asian migration over the past 2000 years is dominated by: • Chinese expansion (mainly Han, but also Tai) from the north • Mon-Khmer and Malay expansion from the west (Burma) • Vietnamese expansion southwards • Reasons for moving on: • Pressure from Mongol and Manchurian invaders • New land for hunting/farming/fishing • Climate change

18. A Brief History – 20th Century • In the modern era (post Second World War) labor was needed to sustain growing economies in Europe, North America and Australasia: • Many Turkish migrants came to Germany • North Africans arrived in large numbers in France and Belgium • One million Britons migrated to Australia • Entry into Canada was almost uncontrolled

19. A Brief History – 20th Century • As in the 19th century, most people moving were economic migrants seeking better opportunities • But other large groups moved for other reasons: • Jews escaping religious persecution in Europe • Palestinians fleeing the new state of Israel • Hindus and Muslims as a result of the partition of India in 1947 • Vietnamese escaping civil war and communism, especially in 1975